Michael Jackson

Profession:King of PopWhy Famous:One of the most successful and popular entertainers in music history, Jackson began his musical career as a child, performing with his brothers in Jackson 5 before going solo in 1971. The Jackson 5 had numerous hits, including "ABC" and "I'll Be There".

After releasing the commercially successful album "Off the Wall" in 1979, he released "Thriller" in 1982, which became the best-selling album of all time with over 65 million copies sold and contained such hits as "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and the title track. Jackson, who became famous for his choreography and groundbreaking music videos, dominated pop music in the 1980s; successful albums "Bad" (1987) and "Dangerous" (1991) followed. The winner of 13 Grammy Awards, Jackson sold more than 350 million records and was one of the most influential entertainers in history.

Jackson's eccentric personal life dominated the latter half of his career, including his financial troubles, changing appearance and general behavior. In the 1990s and 2000s he was accused of child sexual abuse, charges which he denied and was acquitted of in two highly publicized trials. In 2009 he announced a series of comeback concerts, entitled This Is It. Before those concerts could be undertaken he died aged 50 of a cardiac arrest, brought on by an accidental overdose of propofol administered by his personal physician. His death led to a global outpouring of grief and his memorial service was widely watched around the world.